General Study Characteristics
Study characteristics are summarized in Table S1. The majority of
articles (n=18 (38%)) were published by authors from the United
Kingdom, with the second most (n=8 (17%)) originating from the United
States. The majority of the articles (n=36 (75%)) were published in the
Cochrane Library with the second most (n=4 (8.3%)) being published in
the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Government funding
was involved in the largest proportion of the publications (n=16
(33%)), and philanthropic funding was reported for the fewest number of
articles (n=2 (4.1%)). Some articles did not report any source of
funding (n=12 (25%)). The use of prostaglandins for the induction of
labour was the method most frequently evaluated (n=9 (19%)), whereas
many methods of induction were only reported in a single systematic
review.